On Thursday night the last 32 of the Europa League was concluded and, although it may play second-fiddle to the Champions League, the competition proved once again that it has a lot of quality to give. There were plenty of goals in the second legs as well as some big surprises and some huge performances from individual players.
Here, Sports Mole rounds up the key performers on second-leg day of the round of 32, who helped their respective sides into the last 16 or put up a brave attempt in the face of adversity.
1. Emmanuel Adebayor - Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (3-2 aggregate)
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After being defeated 1-0 in the away leg against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, it was clear what Tottenham Hotspur had to do: outscore their opponents - by two if they concede. So when they went behind at White Hart Lane just after half time the task got that much more difficult. They now needed to score three times or the Ukrainians were going through on away goals.
Emmanuel Adebayor had different ideas. He was unplayable in the second half, which started with his winning of a free kick in the 56th minute, from which Christian Eriksen levelled on the night. The roles were reversed for 2-1 - Eriksen set up Adebayor for a finish from close range before the Togolese took down a ball on his chest before finishing brilliantly on the half-volley. Dnipro did not know what had hit them, but Adebayor and Eriksen had produced magic to send Spurs through.
2. Gonzalo Higuain - Napoli 3-1 Swansea City (3-1 aggregate)
On another two nights Swansea City's story could have been so different. In the first leg they spurned a number of very good chances to take a lead into the away leg, but having been held to a 0-0 draw in Wales they were always likely to be up against it in Naples. That said, the Italian side still needed to ride their luck at times and the 3-1 win is a little harsh on Swansea.
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Key to the win was Gonzalo Higuain. He is a good striker to have in general play, but it was also his positioning and poaching ability that made him so crucial to Napoli's victory. After Swansea had an effort cleared off the line the Argentine set up Lorenzo Insigne for a neat clipped finish. Swansea got back into the game before the tireless Higuain finished well after receiving the ball fortuitously. Without Higuain it could well have been Swansea taking on Porto in the last 16 instead.
3. Alexander Meier - Eintracht Frankfurt 3-3 Porto (5-5 aggregate)
The away goals rule can be one of the most frustrating there is and in many ways is archaic because many teams now tend to attack away from home. However, there is little doubt that had the rule not been in play on Thursday the game between Frankfurt and Porto would have been less exciting. Frankfurt held two away goals from the previous week but went out after a dramatic 3-3 draw in the home leg.
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Despite his side going out, there was one real stand-out performer in the contest and that was Alexander Meier. He could not have done more towards the cause that in the end the underdogs just fell short of. Stefan Aigner opened the scoring on the night, but it was Meier's guided header from which Aigner was able to direct the ball into the bottom corner.
More than that, Meier also added goals two and three for his team. The first put Frankfurt 2-0 up, 4-2 on aggregate, as he just held his run to avoid being offside from Tranquillo Barnetta's cutback and his second was for 3-2. Unfortunately his side were unable to hang on, but it was through no fault of Meier's.
4. Pablo Osvaldo - Trabzonspor 0-2 Juventus (0-4 aggregate)
On-loan Southampton striker Pablo Osvaldo scored his first goal for Juventus last week and he followed it up with his second in the return leg. Having won 2-0 in Italy, Juventus always needed to be cautious in the return leg against Trabzonspor but they produced an effective performance to cruise into the last 16 4-0 on aggregate.
Osvaldo had the ball in the net in the 21st minute, but that strike was ruled out for offside with Juve already 1-0 up. However, he did not take much longer to get his name on the scoresheet. He was set up in the six-yard box by a cross from Sebastian Giovinco to head in and caused so much trouble for the Turkish defence with his power throughout.
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